S pring 2 0 1 5 

Volume 1 0 7 /N umber 1

A Shared Table

Communion does not just happen in churches, with bread and wine. It also
happens by participating in a common activity. When people share an experience,
they cultivate friendship and understanding, connection and unity. And thats what
the Seamens Church Institute (SCI), North Americas largest mariners service
agency, tries to do every day: promote and nurture the bonds between all the players
in global commerce. This includes folks on the water and those on land.

Come share with us on

social media.

In this issue
Directors Log

As citizens of the world, we share land and resources, road, rail and waterway networks.
These are the things that connect people of different cultures and backgrounds, and we
rely on them. Without these linksan arrangement of friendship and compromiseour
world would look very different. At the very least, things like supermarkets and shopping
malls would cease to exist. At worst, our world would devolve into disharmony and strife.
History has taught us that humanity is at its best when people value and contribute to the
well being of the community at large.

Sharing communion overcomes barriers. Our ship visitors observe this every day when they
board vessels and see crewmembers from various homelands and faiths gather for a meal.
On board a vessel, a shared meal fortifies mariners and prepares them for their tough work.
Joining in fellowship over food helps the crew work better together as a team.

SCI has taken inspiration from the way mariners unite in the mess hall. When at work,
mariners dont eat with their genetic family; instead, they partake of meals with their
family away from home. They build relationships by sitting together and sharing stories.
At mealtime, not only do mariners find tasty eats but also, quite possibly, some nourishment
for their hearts and souls.
This is SCIs mission: to bring all kinds of people to maritime commerces table. We do it
in everyday ways, like when our chaplains deliver the amenities of life on shore to those
working on board a vessel and when we train mariners with the latest computer technology
to aid in safe navigation. And we do it in not-so-everyday ways, like when we convene
industry roundtables that bring together disparate groups to discuss issues facing the
maritime workforce and when we help mariners and their families cope with disastrous
events on the water.
Maritime commerce touches the lives of just about
everybody on this planet. Because of it, we sit at
one enormous table with the entire human family,
including those working on near and distant
shores. Theres a place for every person at this
table and a role each of us can play, building
and strengthening relationships that make
for a friendlier and healthier world. Pull up
a chair, and join the banquet. Weve set a
place just for you.

River Bell
Awards

Why I Give

Chaplains
Hone Skills

Mountain
Challenge

Public
Radio Report

Founded in 1834, the

from all over the globe to

Institute is a voluntary,

share responsibility for

ecumenical agency

maritime trade.

affiliated with the

Episcopal Church that
provides pastoral care,
maritime education, and
legal and advocacy
services for mariners.

The Seamens Church Institute

New
Tech

SCI brings together people

the shape and condition of

seamenschurch.org

Executive Directors Log

Dear Friends,
Anybody who has visited ships in port with SCI
knows the significance of mealtime. Its a time when
mariners get a valuable break from work to recharge
their batteries. Mariners notoriously provide the
most gracious hospitality. Few of us visit a ship and
leave with an empty stomach.

At SCI, we have many ways

for people to share at
the table. Learn more at
seamenschurch.org .

SCI SUSTAINING
SPONSORS

This year at SCI were giving a lot of thought

to communal mealsspecifically the huge feast
in which we all share because of the work of
mariners. Choices spread out like a magnificent
buffet, we have so many things from which to pick
as consumers, and we owe this range of options
(things like tropical fruit, Missourian grain, Japanese watches and Pennsylvanian coal)
to international and domestic trade.
Even though we all partake in the rewards of maritime commerce, not all of us realize that
we share a responsibility to keep this well-oiled machine churning. But our responsibility
doesnt just rest on our ability to purchase the goods that mariners deliver. It depends on
the kind of consumers we want to be. Do we care about the origin of the items we get at
the store? Do we care about how they got here?
SCI acts to unite many different people at the worlds proverbial table, trying to get
all kinds of folks talking and learning about each other. We see our mission as getting
mariners, engineers, shipbrokers, consumersand everyone in betweento
work together for the benefit of all involved in maritime commerce. We offer
first-rate hospitality, education and advocacy.

Spring 2015 Volume 107/Number 1

Published by
The Seamens Church Institute
seamenschurch.org
212-349-9090
fax: 212-349-8342
sci@seamenschurch.org

At SCI, we have many ways for people to share at the table. If you only know
of one, take a minute to review the others. We offer volunteer opportunities
like ship visiting, knitting and service projects, and we provide folks with
various ways to make financial contributions, which go a long way toward
welcoming more and more mariners.
We could use your help making sure that everyone knows of the welcome we
offer. You can assist us by issuing invitations to your friends and colleagues
basically, anybody who shops! Let them know how youve come to play
an important part in the welfare of maritime commerce by sitting at the
table with SCI and with thousands of
maritime workers across the globe.
Thank you for the part you play in
strengthening relationships in the world
of maritime commerce. Were glad
youre at the table with us.
Yours faithfully,

Richard T. du Moulin
Chairman, Board of Trustees
The Rev. David M. Rider
President and Executive Director

The Rev. David M. Rider

President & Executive Director

Editor, Oliver Brewer

Design & Production, Bliss Design

Not that we discover a new unity.

We discover an older unity.
My dear brothers, we are already one.
But we imagine that we are not.
And what we have to recover is our
original unity.
What we have to be is what we are.
Thomas Merton,
from The Asian Journal

The Lookout is printed on recycledpaper.

2 The Seamens Church Institute

And the deepest level of communication

is not communication,
but communion. It is wordless.
It is beyond words,
and it is beyond speech,
and it is beyond
concept.

The Lookout

Spring 2015

Meet Mary Cullen of

MurrellsInlet, SC.
Over 20 years ago, SCI sent
international banking group J.P.
Morgan Chase a letter. In that letter,
SCI asked the company to consider
ways it might support the work of
the Institute, including getting some
employees to knit for Christmas at
Sea. Mary Cullen, a former Chase
employee who lived in New York City
at the time, heard about this. Since I
love to knit as I watch the television,
she said, I decided to respond.
Mary worked at Chase from 1971
through 1994first in their Expense
Division and later their Corporate
Tax Division. During this time,
she volunteered with several
organizations. Marys involvement

with SCI went above and

beyond knitting, as she made
weekly visits to the Institute
to help open, count and sort
the incoming Christmas at Sea
packages and subsequently
organize thank you letters to
fellow knitters.
Upon retirement in 1994, Mary
learned that her time and efforts
could also provide a financial benefit
to the organizations for which
she volunteered. Like many other
companies, her employer provides
monetary grants based on volunteer
hours, and they do it even though
Mary is retired. Mary simply fills
out the paperwork, forwards it for

completion to SCI, and then SCI

returns it to Chase. After reviewing
the paperwork, the company sends
SCI a check based on the number of
volunteer hours Mary spent knitting
for mariners. Last year, Mary sent SCI
67 beautiful hand-knit items. The
grant is an easy way for my knitting to
have even more impact, says Mary.
Ask your employer about matching your
gifts to SCI, including matching your
volunteer hours.

Meet Baxter Graham of Summit, NJ.

Baxter Graham, retired Senior Vice
President of insurance company
Chubb & Son, first heard about SCI

in 1984 when he worked as manager

of the companys ocean cargo
underwriting department. Because of
his experience, Baxter knows
well the many dangers and
difficulties of ocean transport.
He and his wife give to the
Institute because they believe
in SCIs mission to support,
train and advocate for the men
and women working hard to
deliver the goods on which the
world depends.
Baxters former employer
helps, too. Chubb matches
employee contributions to
nonprofit organizations up to a
fixed annual amount, and they

seamenschurch.org

The Lookout

continue to honor this arrangement

for an additional five years after an
employees retirement.
While active at Chubb, I tried to
maximize this benefit each year for
my favorite charities, Baxter told us.
This is a great employee benefit that
allows the employeeand in my case,
retireeto double his contributions. I
have always been somewhat surprised
that more employees do not take
advantage of this type of benefit.
Dont miss the opportunity to increase
your gift and its impact on the maritime
workforce. Find out from your company
if it matches employee gifts.

Spring 2015 3

Chaplains Hone Emergency

Response Skills

Special
Events Calendar

SCIs President & Executive Director writes about

the course he and five other chaplains recently
completed for pastoral crisis interventions.
by the Rev. David M. Rider, President & Executive Director
About once a month, our port or river chaplains respond to crisis situations
involving serious injury, illness or fatality aboard vessels entrusted to their
care. To keep our pastoral crisis intervention skills sharp, I joined five
SCI river chaplains and chaplain
associates in a three-day training
course in Atlanta, GA, sponsored by
the International Critical Incident
Stress Foundation. We co-trained
with airline crew support staff, law
enforcement and fire department
chaplains to gain breadth and
understanding of best practices
regarding emergency responses.
Though working in different settings,
our course colleagues used role-play
and examined real cases employing a
Critical Incident Stress Management
(CISM) debriefing modela standard in intervention after crews face a
serious injury, suicide or other fatal accident. We analyzed our roles and
appraised the ways our chaplains can protect those in our care following an
incident, helping maritime employees return to work safely when appropriate.
SCI chaplains work within a network of emergency service personnel to assist
those involved in maritime workplace emergencies. In our river context,
maritime transportation companies invite chaplains onto a boat after a serious
incident, while the Coast Guard, coroners or medical examiners complete
their work. After civil authorities depart, chaplains support the surviving crew
with individual conversation and communal prayer. Chaplains often lead a
CISM debriefing that entails a confidential team conversation with crewmates
in a safe space. This process aims to help mariners begin a process that
equips them to face the days ahead.
After the immediate stress aboard the vessel abates, chaplains work with
company officials to support any crew change decisions, while remaining
available to the affected families as needed. On more than one occasion,
families of mariners have asked our chaplains to lead funeral services or
preach. Sudden death causes chaos, so SCI chaplains train to bring support
and a healing presence to the crisis. After surviving crews re-board the
vesselusually after a period of home leaveour chaplains often visit the
boat again for follow-up conversation.
Since SCIs founding over 180 years ago, our chaplains have supported
mariners on both routine and tragic days, but we never do so in isolation.
We represent the larger faith communitys concern at a painful moment in
time, and we work mutually with public authorities after the first stages of an
incident. This recent training bolsters our commitment to ensure we work
collaboratively and taps into the best practices so we can respond, care for and
assist mariners and their families in times of need.
4 The Seamens Church Institute

The Lookout

The 38th Annual Silver Bell

Awards Dinner
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers
New York, NY
SCI Port Festival
Late July (Date TBD)
SCIPort Newark
118 Export Street
Port Newark, NJ
Pilot Boat Harbor Cruise
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Departure from the Battery
Park Seawall
New York, NY
SCI Mountain Challenge 2015
scimountainchallenge.com
September 2427, 2015
Sunday River, Maine
The 12th Annual Paducah Golf Classic
September (Date TBD)
Drake Creek Golf Club
Ledbetter, KY
Maritime Training Benefit Luncheon
Late October (Date TBD)
Houston, TX
The 16th Annual River Bell
Awards Luncheon
Thursday, December 10, 2015
The Paducah McCracken County
Convention and Expo Center
Paducah, KY

Special Events are an

important source of funding
for the Seamens Church
Institute's programs. If
you would like to receive
information or invitations
to our events, please
email specialevents@
seamenschurch.org
or telephone
212-349-9090 x246.

Spring 2015

SCI Mountain Challenge 2015

SCI announces the opening of registration for its outdoor adventure race this fall:
A test of endurance inspired by mariners.
From September 2427, 2015,
the Seamens Church Institute
(SCI) sponsors a race that mirrors
the one mariners run every day as
they make deliveries of precious
cargo safely and on time. The SCI
Mountain Challenge puts teams of
three people on the mountains of
Maine to navigate unfamiliar paths,
changeable weather and difficult
routes. Their efforts do not just
pay lip service to the struggles
mariners face, but competitors sweat
actually benefits mariners, raising
funds to support North Americas
largest mariners service agency, SCI.
The 2015 event follows on the
success of the inaugural SCI
Mountain Challenge in 2013,
in which over 120 competitors
hiked and climbed their way over
miles of rugged and steep terrain.
After the event two years ago, an

seamenschurch.org

enthusiastic participant remarked,

The toughness and drive it took
to get through It really pushed a
person physically and mentally. The
drive and determination of those
competitors paid off, however. The
event raised over $375,000 for SCIs
mariner support services.
All proceeds from the SCI
Mountain Challenge directly
benefit the mariners SCI serves
through programs like ship visiting
and hospitality, legal advocacy,
and maritime education. Each
team pays a registration fee and
takes responsibility for a combined
philanthropic fundraising goal,
an important element of the
competition and part of the basis by
which SCI awards prizes. The top
fundraiser in 2013, the team from
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement,
raised an impressive $16,710.

The Lookout

This years SCI Mountain Challenge

offers an opportunity for two levels
of course completion: Varsity and
Junior Varsity. The entire two-day
Varsity Course covers 24 miles with
9,208 feet of vertical climb, while
the Junior Varsity Course measures
a total of 12 miles with 5,108 feet
of vertical climb. Racers climb
seven mountain summits on the
route for the Varsity Course, and JV
Course competitors tackle four. Both
levels present a serious challenge
to participants.
Registration for the 2015 SCI
Mountain Challenge is now open.
The site scimountainchallenge.
com contains information about
participation, sponsorships, and
rules and regulations for the 2015
Mountain Challenge. Look for live
race coverage during the event.

Spring 2015 5

2014 River Bell Awards Acclaim Maritime Family

At an annual awards luncheon in Paducah, KY, the Seamens Church Institute

recognized two inland maritime industry leaders.
On Thursday, December 11, 2014,
SCI hosted its 15th Annual River
Bell Awards Luncheon in Paducah,
KY, raising over $270,000 to support
mariners served by the Institutes
Ministry on the Rivers and Gulf
program. SCI presented the River
Bell Award to Peter H. Stephaich,
Chairman & CEO of Campbell
Transportation Company, Inc., and
conferred the River Legend Award to
J. Russell Flowers, the Chairman of J.
Russell Flowers, Inc.
Mr. Stephaich has held many
roles in industry stewardship
positions, including with the
American Waterways Operators,
the National Waterways Foundation
and the Waterways Council, Inc.
Introducing Mr. Stephaich, River
Bell Committee member Merritt
Lane heralded the pivotal role
Stephaich played shepherding
through Congress The Water
Resources Reform & Development
Act of 2014, aimed at improving
the nations inland waterways
infrastructure. In his acceptance
remarks at the Luncheon, Mr.
Stephaich noted the teamwork of
barge companies that contributed to

this accomplishment. As a sign of

this commitment to collaboration,
he remarked on the industrys mutual
support of SCI, which provides
pastoral care and training to various
companies vessel employees.
Mr. J. Russell Flowers echoed
Mr. Stephaichs sentiments about
his experience of alliance in the
maritime industry. Over the course
of a career spanning 54 years and
several marine companies, Flowers
has fostered a collegial atmosphere
in a highly competitive business.
Russell has been extremely generous
to our industry and most recently in
his support for our mariners, said
Mark K. Knoy, River Bell Chairman.
On December 10, SCI named a
simulator pilothouse in honor of the
Flowers familys support.

photorealistic visual technology. He

said, Todays upgrades demonstrate
just how much the industry cares for
its own and how it wants to bring
out the best in each other.
SCI established the River Bell
Awards in 2000 to recognize the
contributions of an individual,
company or organization to the
inland maritime industry. Proceeds
from the Institutes luncheon support
SCIs programs, including pastoral
and spiritual care to American
maritime industry employees and
shoreside management.
River Bell Award recipient Peter H.
Stephaich with SCIs President &
Executive Director (L) and H. Merritt
Lane III (R).

At the Luncheon, SCI invited its

Center for Maritime Education
Director, Captain Stephen Polk, to
give details of the Institutes new
simulators unveiled at the Center
in Paducah, KY, the day before.
Polk described upgrades, funded
by multiple training companies,
that include new vessel models and

Why SCI Matters

Abandoned Ships

his really happens. Seafarers can find themselves diligently working one
minute and the next stranded aboard a ship without pay, food, water, or
the means to go home for weeks or even months. Scenarios under which
unscrupulous owners abandon ships vary, but no matter the circumstances
the crew suffers without daily necessities or pay. Helping secure the welfare of
mariners across the globe, SCI provides the worlds only free legal advocacy
service for seafarers, who might otherwise be left high and dry without any help
to recover lost wages or get home to their families.
Real people depend on SCIand on youfor support. Give online today
at http://donate.seamenschurch.org/give
6 The Seamens Church Institute

The Lookout

You can support

mariners by making
a financial
contribution to SCI. Use
the envelope included in
this newsletter to send a
check, make a donation by
credit card or set up a
recurring gift.
Youll find all of
these choices
available to you
online, too. Just go to
seamenschurch.org and
click Donate.

Spring 2015

Report Sheds Light on Seafarers and SCI

Reporter Julie Caine got answers to her questions about seafarers and their lives
at SCIs International Maritime Center in the Port of Oakland.
In March of 2014, a public radio reporter based in San
Francisco, Julie Caine, contacted SCI about doing a
feature story on the Institutes work in the Bay Area.
Julie said she did not believe many people knew
about SCImuch less the lives of the seafarers the
organization serves. She wanted to explore a day in the
life and discover the reasons SCI would operate and
maintain a center to help professional mariners from
around the world.
Julie coordinated with the Director of SCIs
International Maritime Center, Adrienne Yee, to visit
the multi-denominational seafarer hospitality center
in the Port of Oakland. Julie asked if she could shadow
Adrienne as she made her roundsfrom transporting
seafarers to local shops to helping them phone or Skype
home to visiting seafarers on board ship.
Julie wanted to find out the way SCI works. Who is
served, she asked before recording the story, and what
is the interaction between ship and shore? What are the
needs of seafarers, and how does SCI help them? The
answers to these and other questions came from her inperson visit to SCIs Centermeeting seafarers, talking
to them and even going shopping with them.

asking him why he is eager to buy electronics in

America, when likely those goodsmade closer to his
home country than the U.S.might very well reside in
a container on his ship.
Elsewhere in the report, Julie examines transportation in
port, life at sea, seafarers contracts, and the main reason
for leaving home: supporting families. She says of the
seafarers she encountered, They are looking out for the
their familiesand the maritime center is looking out
for them.
The story struck a chord with SCI Chaplain James
Kollin, Adrienne Yees coworker some 2,000 miles away
in the Port of New York and New Jersey, where SCI
runs a similar center to the one in Oakland. I heard
the story, said James. As a chaplain, I find it realistic,
straightforward and meaningfula valuable piece
to remember.
You can listen to Julies story, which originally aired
on KALWs Crosscurrents program on November 19,
archived online at http://smschur.ch/shopping-seafarers.
There, you can also view photos, including one of Singh
and SCIs Center, and explore related links.

In her story, Shopping with the Seafarers, Julie

recounts meeting Indian seafarer Dheeraj Singh and

he U.S. Coast
Guard recently
published

proposed regulations
that would require most
marine terminals in the
US to provide seafarers
and othersincluding
port chaplainswith
access between vessels
moored at the facility
and the facility gate in
a timely manner and at
no cost to the seafarer
or other individual. Read
SCIs comments on these
proposed regulations
at http://smschur.
ch/79FR77981.

seamenschurch.org

The Lookout

Spring 2015 7

THE SEAMENS CHURCH INSTITUTE

SCI

NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT #99
NEW HAVEN, CT

The Seamens Church Institute

50 Broadway, Floor 26
New York, NY 10004

SCI CENTERS: Port Newark, Paducah, Houston, Bay Area

seamenschurch.org
Ways to Give to SCI


Use the envelope in this
edition of The Lookout or mail
your check to TheSeamens
Church Institute,
50 Broadway, Floor 26,
New York, NY 10004.

Support the people who deliver the

goods that make our modern way
of life possible.

Donate
Remember:
Many companies match employee
donations to eligible nonprofits.
Ask your employer about
increasing the value of your gift
to support mariners.


Call 212-349-9090 and make
a contribution over the phone
with your credit card.

Sponsor

SCI provides prominent recognition to

its underwriters. Become a corporate
sponsor and link your companys
philanthropy with North Americas

Donate online at
donate.seamenschurch.org. largest and most comprehensive
mariners serviceagency.

Volunteer
SCI offers many ways volunteers
can contribute to the work of
the Institute. Call one of our
centers or email volunteer@
seamenschurch.org.

Collect
In addition to handknit scarves
and hats, SCIs Christmastime gift
to mariners includes items found
at most ordinary supermarkets
donated by people like you. To
find out more, contact cas@
seamenschurch.org or visit
ourwebsite.

Follow

Go to http://facebook.com/
seamenschurch and
clicklike.
Follow @seamenschurch
on Twitter.
Check out our photos
at http://www.flickr.com/
photos/seamenschurch.
And, watch videos from our
work at http://vimeo.com/
channels/scitv.
Remember SCI in your estate
plans. Email legacygiving@
seamenschurch.org for more
information.

New Tech Christened in Paducah, KY

The day before its 15th Annual River Bell Awards ceremony, SCI pushed the proverbial boat
out on a new era of maritime education. In prior months, SCI had installed new simulators
and renovated the hospitality areas at its Center for Maritime Education in Paducah, KY. The
official dedication of the refurbished Center on December 10 revealed SCIs blueprint for
preparing a new generation of mariners for safe operations on American waterways.

Jill P. Flowers takes a turn at the

sticks, steering the virtual vessel that
bears her name down the river.

SCI sought the support of maritime industry partners to finance the enhancements to its
Center for Maritime Education in Paducah, KY. Individuals and representatives from many of these companies attended
the official dedication in December. The Rt. Rev. Andrew M. L. Dietsche, Bishop of New York, blessed four named
pilothouses (MV Capt. O. Nelson Jones, MV Jill P. Flowers, MV Mark K. Knoy and MV Craig E. Philip), the Captain Buck
and Helen Lay Lobby, the Capt. David E. Hammond, Sr. Classroom and the James Marine Control Room. Demonstrations
of the technology followed, with the namesake of each pilothouse making the maiden voyages. Maritime scenes, shot by
photographer Gregory Thorp, adorned the walls of each new room. To see a list of all those who made this project possible,
go to http://smschur.ch/new-tech-chapter.
SCI has begun a new year of training in the remodeled Center and anticipates training close to 1,000 professional mariners
in 2015. This renovation and refurbishment outfits mariners with resources to achieve the highest levels of professional
performance, said Capt. Stephen Polk, Director of Maritime Education and Training at SCI.
8 The Seamens Church Institute

The Lookout

Spring 2015